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Location: UK | Who is the most significant SF author you have never read anything by?
I think, for me, it might be Samuel R. Delany, although there are other gaps going further back in time (Olaf Stapledon, EE "Doc" Smith). It's kind of tricky to judge who is a big name from here. (And also I might be forgetting I've read something.) |
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Location: Dallas, TX | I'm ashamed to say I haven't yet read any Asimov or PKD. They've been on my list for years now but there's always been something else that caught my interest. |
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Location: Dallas, Texas | DrNefario - 2012-07-10 7:51 AM Who is the most significant SF author you have never read anything by? For me it's got to be Gene Wolfe. The man is a legend and his followers are much devoted to him. Emil will be scandalized when he reads this. I own my shame  I've got a few of his books at hand but I'm not really sure where to start. |
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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | Administrator - 2012-07-11 3:07 AM For me it's got to be Gene Wolfe. The man is a legend and his followers are much devoted to him. Emil will be scandalized when he reads this. I own my shame I've got a few of his books at hand but I'm not really sure where to start.
Legendary, indeed. But asking who the most significant SF author is, is like asking which brand is the best coffee ever. There are just so many answers and one single answer won't satisfy the thirst 
@Dave, the secret to reading Gene Wolfe lies in ... making a start  |
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Location: SC, USA | First let me say that the GMRC has helped me eliminate several of those big names I'd never read. My GMRC reads of Aldiss, Norton, Bester, Vance, McCaffrey and Moorcock (tried Gloriana before and never finished) were my first of each author. Like Dave, I have not read any Wolfe. The other big ones are Farmer, Leiber, and Anderson, although the GMRC may help that also... And that's just the older generation. |
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Location: Gunnison, Colorado | Looking at the Grand Master list, I've read almost all of them at some point, if you count short stories. I've always been big on anthologies and "year's bests", and you end up getting a taste of almost all of them that way. The one GM that I've not read at all is... Anne McCaffrey. Considering the newer acclaimed writers, I just finished my first Mieville, so that seems like a gap filled.
I'd also been wanting to read Gene Wolfe for years, but it seemed kind of daunting. I finally got The Best of Gene Wolfe last year and loved it. I find short fiction is often the best intro to a new (to me) writer--you get a good sense of the scope of what they can do more quickly. I also hadn't read Moorcock until just about a year ago (another daunting bibliography), and now I'm hooked...
@whargoul: Strangely enough, Asimov and (especially) PKD are the only two SF writers I've read just about everything by! |
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| I've never read Doc Smith - his books never seemed very promising, also, they were mostly series, which I always feel obliged to finish! One of theses days... |
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Location: Glasgow, Scotland | Hand on heart - although, I really REALLY want to - it has to be Arthur C. Clarke!! I've got some of his stuff on my Kindle app but just never got round to reading it. How terrible am I? haha |
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Location: Washington, DC | Never read Aldiss, Vance, Clement, and Moorcock, though I'm hoping to use GMRC to rectify that. Vance has been on my reading pile for months now, and the latest post on WWEnd blog by Scott Lazerus just pushed it to the top.
Oh, and @Scott Laz I've never read any McCaffrey either |
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Location: Gunnison, Colorado | Hi, alchymyst. I don't think you'll regret trying Vance. Both he and Moorcock are daunting; there's so much that it's hard to know where to start... |
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| Yes, try Vance. He's got a very distinctive voice. |
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Location: Washington, DC | I decided to tackle Moorcock first. Reading The Dancers at the End of Time and loving it so far. |
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Location: UK | Dancers at the End of Time is just great fun. My favourite Moorcock, I think. |
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Location: UK | I am familiar with 18 of the 28 Grand Masters,but the biggest names which I have not tackled have to be Connie Willis,Silverberg and Moorcock. |
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Location: Boston, MA | i am most ashamed of never having read PKD |
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Location: Gunnison, Colorado | @hihik: Get started! :-) |
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Location: scotland | No horror writers mentioned so far
I only recently started fantasy Wolfe - sf Leguin
Biggest horror not rd would be Campbell |
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Location: UK | I'm not much of a horror reader at all. I think I read a Stephen King once. |
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Location: UK | @Pauljames - I'm afraid horror is the runt of the litter in this group,there are not many books on the shelf.The admins have done a herculean task in getting the SF section in great order,its pretty good,but so far horror is a side issue.Perhaps you can help to change that if you are a fan.
In the horror area I havent got round to Joe Abercrombie yet,but I am trying to get back into SF after a long gap,and my to-be-read pile is huge,I call it Mount TBR.Might make room for horror in 2014.
If you have a list of books you would like to add,there is a thread for doing that
Why not |
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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | I don't know, but I think that horror is developing quite fine here. There's the Bram Stoker award, to start with. I also haven't read horror before my tenure at WWEnd. |
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Location: Florida | hihik - 2012-08-31 3:35 PM i am most ashamed of never having read PKD Sob -- me too, and he has so many classics. However I am hoping to put him in my "have read" column in next years reading challenge. (assuming the list has PKD in it). |
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Location: UK | @ILikeMaps - .I think next year we are going to focus on the Guardian SF and Fantasy list,not sure how we'll use it.There are two PKD's on there,The Man in the High Castle,and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.? high Castle is definely on my reading list for next year. |
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Location: near Skegness, Lincolnshire, UK. | I`ve read something by nearly all the major SF/F/H authors over the years, some in considerable depth like Wells, Aldiss, Clarke, le Guin, Bradbury, Asimov, Shelley, etc., but never managed anything by EE 'Doc' Smith. |
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Confessions: which big names have you not read?